Environmental protection has become a growing policy focus worldwide, and education systems increasingly seek ways to engage young people in sustainable practices to address future climate concerns. Pew Research Center (2021) reports that younger generations are more inclined to protect the environment than older ones. However, these attitudes don't develop in a vacuum. They stem from a combination of demographic, attitudinal, and social factors, as well as broader community influences (Smith & Kingston, 2021; Xie et al., 2019). Schools play a key role in educating students about sustainability and environmental responsibility. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCED)—central to the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—emphasise that students need the knowledge, skills, and mindset to address environmental issues (United Nations, 2015; UNESCO, 2017). This paper explores predictors of students' expected participation in environment protection activities using data from the third cycle of the IEA’s International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2022) (Schulz et al., 2023). Our study uses ICCS 2022 data from 18 different European countries. This study looks at how students' backgrounds, school experiences, and involvement in sustainability efforts influence their expectations to undertake activities for environmental protection in the future. The analysis uses multiple regression models to identify predictors of students’ expected participation in environment protection activities. Individual background variables include gender, students’ socioeconomic background, and parental interest in political and social issues. Student-level factors further include civic knowledge, attitudes towards environmental protection, concern about threats to the global environment and reports about their own sustainable behaviours. School context variables reflect student reports on having learnt how to protect the environment and environment-friendly practices implemented at their school. The findings suggest that a mix of individual factors, school influences, and self-reported behaviours play a significant role in shaping whether students expect to take part in environmental protection efforts in the future. Understanding these connections provides educators and policymakers with insight into effective ways to foster stronger environmental values in young people. This research highlights the importance of integrating ESD into schools as a way of empowering students to take meaningful action on environmental challenges. More broadly, these insights add to the growing evidence that education plays a critical role in advancing global sustainability goals, and it reinforces the need for well-designed programs that not only build knowledge but encourage active engagement.

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